  Tetsua Member Username: Tetsua Post Number: 978 Registered: 01-2004 |
This comes from todays Crains, and in short discusses new incentives to get motion pictures / tv shows to shoot here. By Bill Shea 12:30 pm, December 15, 2006 The Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau plans to begin interviewing in January for someone to head a new office that markets the region to filmmakers. The Legislature late Thursday approved a production-cost rebate incentive to lure movie productions to the state. The idea of the film office, which will work in conjunction with the taxpayer-funded Michigan Film Office in Lansing, was hinged on the creation of an incentive. Michigan’s sole current incentive is a rebate on hotel room taxes after 30 days. The new enticement is a tiered set of rebates for set percentages of production costs incurred in Michigan. Christopher Baum, senior vice president of sales and marketing at the bureau, estimated the new film office will cost more than $100,000 annually. The person running it will act as a liaison between producers and government offices in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties; offer digital images of locations; lead location scouting tours; and market the region, and the new incentive, at film shows. Janet Lockwood, director of Michigan Film Office, said feature-film spending in Michigan this year might reach $2 million, and compared that to nearly $600 million this year for storm-battered Louisiana, which has some of the nation’s most comprehensive incentives. “(The incentive) will make a considerable difference in the number of movies shot in this state,” she said. “This means a lot to Michigan based on the case models out there in other states. We can market the state as a true player in the film and television industry.” To qualify for the incentive, a production must: Spend at least $200,000 in Michigan. Submit an application to the Michigan Film Office and Department of Treasury for pre-approval. Not owe the state any money. “By offering these incentives, filmmakers will be more likely to shoot commercials, TV series or feature films in Michigan and in turn contribute greatly to our economy,” Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, chairman of the House Commerce Committee and author of the legislation, said in a statement Friday. On Thursday, the Senate passed the bill 34-1 and the House unanimously approved it. The production cost rebates are: $200,000-$1 million: 12 percent $1 million-$5 million: 16 percent $5 million-$10 million: 20 percent Over $10 million: 20 percent credit on the first $10 million spent The treasury will offer only four rebates per tax year, and the legislation expires in four years. The state capped the rebate at $7 million collectively per tax year. “We tried to make it as true of an incentive as possible to come here,” said Dale Hull, Huizenga’s chief of staff, who helped draft the bill and its modifications. Originally, the bill was tied to the single-business tax, which has yet to be replaced by the Legislature, and had no cap on the number of eligible productions. It’s been modified several times and has been idle in a Senate committee for months. It was first passed by the House in November 2005. | ||
Detroitrulez Member Username: Detroitrulez Post Number: 76 Registered: 12-2006 |
wait to be on the top of things....other cities have been doing stuff like this for, oh, 10 or 15 years....and, oh, the 100,000 annual budget sounds a bit low...like by at least a third. | ||
Fnemecek Member Username: Fnemecek Post Number: 2223 Registered: 12-2004 |
Yes, other cities have had such an office for years. However, those cities are in states that are willing to offer at least some kind of tax incentive for shooting there. For years, Michigan has been one of the few states in the union with no such set of incentives. Luring projects to Michigan without those incentives has been an exercise in futility and Michigan has dropped from the number 3 film production location (right behind New York and L.A.) to, well, so low that it hurts to think about it. That fact just changed so now we have a film office to market those locations and incentives. As for the budget, $100K is too low. However, it doesn't make financial sense for the convention bureau to spend more than that. They will only rent so many hotel rooms from luring more projects to the area. In my opinion, though, now is the time for the various labor unions (SAG, IATSE, Teamsters, etc.) whose members will directly benefit from those projects to step up and add their dollars to this program. Oh, and as a side note: the new package that just went into effect was modelled after a similar one in Louisiana. In spite of the lingering problems from Hurricane Katrina, they still pulled in $600 million in feature film projects. | ||
Schoolcraft Member Username: Schoolcraft Post Number: 18 Registered: 07-2005 |
This is great news for Detroit and the state.Here in Arizona they are getting back after it. They did away with a lot of incentives for a while thinking they could compete without them....and Hollywood North(Vancouver) kicked butt so Arizona is trying to fight back. I dont know if this is considered a good web site to attract the biz or not ,however, as a novice observer it looks good to me. http://www.azcommerce.com/Film / | ||
Detroit_stylin Member Username: Detroit_stylin Post Number: 3382 Registered: 10-2003 |
In the eyes of someone who works in e commerce, that seems very amatuerish... |
